The classic moving problem: you have to be out of the old place on the 30th and the new place is not yours until the 15th. A conventional mover handles that by unloading your goods into a storage unit, then loading them again two weeks later — two extra handlings, two extra chances for damage, and two bills. A container move with storage avoids all of it. Your goods go into a container once, the container is sealed and sits at a warehouse, and when the new home is ready the same container is delivered and opened. Nothing is touched in between.
We run this out of our warehouse in North York for moves within Canada, moves overseas, and for families who simply need a month or two of breathing room. This guide explains how it works, what it costs, and when a mover plus a storage unit is actually the better choice.
How it works
- Quote. You build an inventory in the moving quote calculator. We confirm the container size — a 20ft for a one- or two-bedroom, a 40ft for larger — and the storage period you expect.
- Load day. Either the container comes to your home on a chassis for loading, or a crew brings your goods to our warehouse and loads the container at our dock. Everything is export-wrapped, inventoried, photographed, and the doors are sealed with a numbered seal.
- Storage. The sealed container is grounded at the warehouse. It is not opened, and your goods are not re-handled. You can store for a week or for a year; the rate is monthly.
- Delivery. When you give us a date, the container goes on a chassis to your new home (or onto the rail for a cross-Canada move, or to the port for an overseas one) and is opened there. The seal number is checked against your paperwork before the doors come open.
If something you need is inside — the winter coats, the kids' bikes — tell the crew on load day and it goes in last, at the doors. A sealed container cannot be partially accessed without breaking the seal and re-sealing, which we can do at the warehouse, but it is a scheduled job, not a drop-in.
What it costs
Three components, and the middle one is the only one that depends on how long you store:
- Loading and origin drayage: the same as any container move — the crew, the materials, the truck to our warehouse. For a 20ft two-bedroom load in the GTA, typically $1,200–$2,000 including labour and wrapping.
- Storage: a flat monthly rate per container at our warehouse. For a 20ft, budget roughly $250–$400 per month in 2026; a 40ft somewhat more. No handling fees in or out while it sits, because nothing is handled.
- Delivery and unloading: drayage to the new address and the unloading crew, again typically $1,000–$1,800 for a 20ft in the GTA; more if the destination is another city, where the rail or ocean leg is added. See our container moving service guide for the long-distance legs.
Compare that to a mover plus a self-storage unit: the mover's two moves (into storage, out of storage) at $1,500–$3,000 each for a two-bedroom, plus a 10×15 unit at $250–$400 per month, plus the handling. For a storage period of anything under about six months the container is usually cheaper, and it is always fewer handlings.
Container storage vs a mover and a storage unit
| Container move with storage | Mover + self-storage unit | |
|---|---|---|
| Times your goods are handled | 2 (load, unload) | 4 (load, unload to storage, reload, unload) |
| Access during storage | Scheduled only — the container is sealed | Any time, with your own key |
| Damage risk | Low; sealed, braced, not re-handled | Higher; two extra moves and a unit you pack yourself |
| Climate | Warehouse, dry; not climate-controlled unless requested | Varies; climate-controlled units cost more |
| Best for | Known move-in date, 1–6 months, long-distance or overseas next leg | Open-ended storage, frequent access, small volumes |
| Cost, 2-bedroom, 3 months (GTA) | ~$3,000–$5,000 all-in | ~$4,000–$7,000 all-in |
When a storage unit is the better choice
Three situations. You need regular access — if you will be in and out of your things weekly, a container is the wrong tool. The volume is small — a studio's worth of boxes does not justify a container; a small unit and a van is cheaper. The storage is open-ended — if you do not know whether it is three months or three years, a self-storage unit's month-to-month flexibility and your own key are worth the extra handling. For everyone else — families between homes, moves across the country or overseas with a gap, downsizers waiting on a build — the container is the simpler, safer, usually cheaper option.
Storage before an overseas move
This is where the container-with-storage model is at its best. Overseas moves almost never line up: the visa comes through, the house sells, but the sailing is three weeks out and the destination lease starts a month after that. We load the container, store it at the warehouse until the sailing date, and it ships on the same seal. At the destination, our partner can hold it again until you have keys. Your things are loaded once in Toronto and opened once at your new door, which is also what the destination customs officer wants to see — a sealed container with a matching inventory. Our overseas moving guide covers the customs side; the destination pages under international moving cover each country's timing.
Dates not lining up?
Tell us the move-out and move-in dates and build your inventory. We quote the load, the storage months and the delivery as one price.